How to Macramé a Hemp Bracelet

May 7, 2013

Simple square-knot macrame bracelet.

Growing up in the 1970’s, I predictably spent part of my childhood making macramé. In fact, I spent hours tied to the ends of masses of cording creating the ubiquitous plant hangers that have become an icon of the era. Call me sentimental, but I got a warm and fuzzy feeling when asked to dust off my knotting fingers and make a hemp macramé bracelet for Rings & Things’ Blog.

One of Rings & Things’ most popular online jewelry projects has always been Project #68-002-10 (catchy title, eh?). Well, we decided it was time to give our classic, line-drawing macramé technique sheet some 21st Century pep. Here goes …

First, you’ll want to gather all your materials — and a great thing about hemp bracelets is that they don’t require much!

Hemp cord comes in a rainbow of colors,on your choice of spools and cards.

For the beads, you’ve got a lot of options, but the important thing to keep in mind is that the hole size needs to be large enough to encompass two strands of cord! For 1mm hemp cord, the holes need to be at least 2mm wide (preferably wider).

For the bracelet pictured above, I decided to go full retro 1970’s and use barrel Mirage Beads™ since they are reminiscent of the mood rings that were popular back then — the beads actually change color with small temperature changes!

I decided to also use C-Koop enameled copper “shorties” because I’ve always liked the colorful, enameled C-Koop components. For the clasp, I chose a matchingC-Koop enameled copper cupped disk which worked perfectly to make a simple button-style clasp.

Plan your pattern ahead of time to see how many beads will fit in the desired bracelet length. You can use just one type of bead, or create a pattern that alternates between 2 or more types/colors of beads. In the bracelet pictured above, I chose to use 7 beads in a simple alternating pattern that is symmetrical and centered, with an enameled “shortie” in the center: M E M E M E M. I also chose to space my beads so that the blue enameled shorties would NOT end up next to the blue enameled clasp (cupped disk).

Once you’ve gathered all your supplies, cut your hemp cord into the following measurements:

One 10″ piece

One 20″ piece

One 70″ piece (the remainder)

Find the centers of the 20″ piece and the 70″ piece and place the center loop of one on top of the center of the other.

Line up the centers of your 20″ and 70″ cords.

Loop the 10″ cord through the centers of both longer cords.

Then, take the center of your 10” cord and make a half-hitch knot around the center of the longer four strands. Check to make sure the cording is still even and all ends still match up.

Once all cords are even (symmetrical), make a half-hitch knot with the 10″ cord and pull tight.

Now you’ll want to anchor the project, so you can make nice, tight knots. For a short project like a bracelet, a clipboard works great since it makes your project portable. Secure the short (10″) cord into the top clip. Pull the 20″ cords tight and tape them to the bottom of the clipboard. Leave the longest 2 cord ends dangling loosely.

Once your cords are secured, you’re ready to start knotting.

If you don’t have a clipboard, you can anchor your cords to a table top with tape. (When I was a kid, I anchored long projects by tying the anchor cord to my Mom’s cabinet handle and sitting on the center cords to keep them taut).

It’s time to start knotting! This bracelet project uses a single basic knot, called the square knot (a.k.a. half knot). To create a square knot, follow the illustrations below, in which the long (knotting) cord that starts on the right is “A,” the two short (filler) cords in the middle are “B” and the long (knotting) cord that starts on the left is “C”.

Start with cord A and bring it behind cords B, forming a loop (about the size of a 50-cent piece) on the right side.

Make sure cord C is behind the long length of A (now on the left side).

Start a square knot by taking cord “A” under both cords “B” and over cord “C”.

Now, bring cord “C” over cords B and through the loop of cord A.

To complete a square knot, pull cord “C” through the loop formed by cord “A”.

Pull tight.

Tip: The tighter the cord is pulled, the smaller the knot will be. Find your desired size and pull at that same tightness throughout the project for consistency.

Repeat the previous 3 steps, but this time start on the left side with cord “A” to make your 2nd knot.

Make your second square knot from the left side.

Repeat again, switching back to the right side for the 3rd knot.

Alternate sides for every knot (one knot starting from the left, the next knot starting from the right). Do this for approximately 20 knots. Be sure to create an even number of knots, and remember to pull knots consistently snugly.

Hint: keep track of which side you are working on. After a knot is pulled tight, notice that the side to be worked on next is the side with the cord facing forward, not the cord facing the back.

Once you’ve make about 20 knots, your square knot pattern should look like this.

Note: It you continue knotting from a single side, instead of alternating sides, you will create a half-knot spiral (a.k.a. spiral stitch) instead. The spiral stitch is also really cool and can also be used to make a bracelet. Just keep in mind that it will have more dimension and will not lay flat.

Tip: to make stringing the beads easier (and help prevent the ends of the B cords from fraying), rub a dab of glue into each B cord end and form each end into a tip. Let the tips dry, then commence stringing.

Slide your first bead over both cords B, and push it up close to the last knot (but don’t bunch up the knots). If the bead is difficult to slide over the cord, twist the bead as you push it on.

Go around the beads with cords A and C, then make a knot as usual with cord A (starting on the right side, assuming your last knot before adding the bead started on the left).

Push the knot up to the bottom of the bead and tighten to the desired consistency.

Add 3 more alternating knots.

Add 2 more beads the same way (adding 4 knots after each bead).

Square knot pattern with 4 of my 7 beads added.

Even if you’ve pre-planned your bead pattern, it’s a good idea at this point to test the length on your wrist (or ankle). Does it go about half way around? If yes, then this is the middle — only add 2 more beads. If no, then continue adding beads (with 4 knots after each bead).

Don’t worry if it seems like the project won’t be long enough. That piece of cord hanging back at the beginning makes this project any desired length between 6 and 12 inches.

After adding your last bead, make about 20 more knots (the same number you made at the beginning).

To make a simple clasp: After you’re done knotting, slide your large bead onto all 4 cords — if it fits. For the cupped disk, I improvised since only 3 of the four strands would fit through the disk’s hole. I knotted one of the middle (B) cords snug up against the last square knot, trimmed it flush and added a drop of glue.

Since all 4 cords don’t fit through the cupped disk, I finished one of the “B” cords with a knot and strung the remaining 3 cords through the cupped disk.

Then I cut the knotted “B” cord flush andadded a drop of glue for security.

Pull all (remaining) cords snugly and tie a knot. Trim the ends and add a dab of glue for extra security. This forms the “button” or “hook” part of your clasp.

On the opposite side of the bracelet (the 10 inch length of cording), tie a knot where you want the bottom of your loop. (Since my wrists are small, I was able to start my loop right next to the macramé section, and did not need to create this first knot).

Determine how long the loop needs to be for your “hook” to go through it and hold (about 3/4 of an inch works for crow beads and cupped disks). At that spot, tie another knot to complete the loop.

Trim excess cord and apply a drop of glue to secure the knots.

Close-up of the finished button-style clasp.

You can alternately use a metal jewelry clasp by tying it to the finished ends of your knotted strand.

Once you’ve got the hang of the square knot, these bracelets are a snap to make, and it won’t be long till you’re coming up with an array of variations!

Macramé bracelets made with hemp cord. Some use a square knot and others use a spiral knot.

Macramé bracelets make great inexpensive price points for craft fairs and festivals, as well as great gifts for old friends and new. With so many vibrant colors of hemp cord now available, the possibilities are endless for design variation.

Hi Tammie, I didn’t make that particular bracelet, so I asked the designer who did. She said it was basically the result of a happy accident. 🙂 Below is what she told me about her process. ~ Melissa

“I started out making a brown bracelet, but I wound up with much longer threads than I needed. Instead of cutting the hemp shorter, I just kept going. I made a loop for the button then started a 2nd spiral going back around the bracelet the other way. Once knotted, the 2 spirals naturally nestled into each other. I realized at that point that I still had enough of my center threads to make a 3rd spiral. I decided to introduce another color into the mix. I tied yellow L and R threads onto the center threads then knotted a 3rd spiral. When I got back to where all 3 strands meet, I used the remaining length of my yellow threads to make a whip stitch around the bare loop. This made the loop more sturdy and attractive.”

Hi Louise, we do not have a separate tutorial for making macrame with leather. You can use these same instructions, but in most cases you will want to cut longer lengths of cord than indicated above since a thicker cord will take up more length per knot.

Thank you for your site. I am interested in making anklets out of cord and puka shells. I was just going to do a regular braid in between (b/c I like how this looks). Do you think I should order hemp cord, or will this stretch too much if it were to get wet? Or do you recommend getting waxed cord b/c it would not stretch as much, and might be less scratchy on skin? Thank you so much for your experienced input. Jeni Kay

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